Slight Hesitance
by I'm-So-Fancy
Summary: After being sent to this dimension by a scroll, Hinata was poisoned by the APTX 4869 after she had stumbled upon Gin, her chakra still depleted from a previous fight. Now in a 7-year old body, she is found unconcious by Edogawa Conan and his friend.
1. Chapter 1

**Slight Hesitance  
>1<strong>

**Okay, so I'm restarting the whole 'Sincere' fanfic, since I didn't like it so much. The new title is 'Slight Hesitance'. I don't think many of you would mind much, since there was only 2 chapters.**

**Summary: After being sent to this dimension by a scroll, Hinata was poisoned by the APTX 4869 after she had stumbled upon Gin, her chakra still depleted from a previous fight. Now in a 7-year old body, she is found unconcious by Edogawa Conan and his friend.**

**Disclaimer: I own neither Detective Conan nor Naruto.  
><strong>

* * *

><p>Tsunade glanced at the four teenagers facing her, "So, you guys finally decided to show up, huh?"<p>

Naruto sheepishly grinned at her, rubbing his head nervously. Hinata twiddled with her fingers, "G-gomenasai, T-Tsunade-sama," the shy girl bowed her head.

Tsunade crossed her arms, an eyebrow raised, "Oh really? So why are you late?"

Sai remained silent, while Shikamaru answered, "Naruto here wanted to stop at Ichiraku's for 'a few bowls'," the chunin shrugged, "Turns out, a few means a few dozen for him."

"Oh well, it can't be helped," Tsunade sighed, "Naruto's stomach is like a never-ending abyss."

"Hey!"

Naruto's protest was ignored. He pouted to himself, turning his head away. He couldn't help it! Really! He was so starved!

"Anyway..." Tsunade drawled, her hands grabbing a small number of papers, "This is an S-rank—"

"Alright a mission!" Naruto cheered, "Not only that! It's _S-rank_!"

Tsunade shot a glare at the hyperactive boy, "As I was saying, _before I was interrupted_, this is an S-rank mission that I'm assigning you."

She handed the papers to the lazy chunin, who skimmed them, "Heh, sounds pretty easy, for an S-rank."

Hinata raised her hand, "B-but we're t-too inexperienced for th-this rank, Tsunade-sama."

"That's because a few B-rank missing-nins stole a highly classified document. Your mission is to retrieve it."

Tsunade nodded, "Alright, you're dismissed. Meet me at the gates in 30 minutes. Pack your bags."

The shinobi nodded, hands doing the appropriate hand seals, before they poofed away, leaving leaves that twirled around with the wind.

Tsunade grinned, "Alright! It's sake time—"

A hand stopped Tsunade's, it's fingers gripping onto her wrist. Tsunade looked up, sweatdropping, "Hehehe... Shizune! How's your day today?"

"Tsunade-sama!" As Shizune continued to rant, Tsunade's shoulder drooped.

_My sake..._

She banged her head on the table. Shizune didn't notice, opting to continue her rant.

* * *

><p>The four shinobi returned to their respective homes, getting ready for the mission.<p>

Hinata placed her pouch on her futon, placing her weapons inside. She did the same for her shuriken holster, only with shuriken.

She took her usual mission backpack from its place on the floor, neatly packing a bento, a towel, bandages, a few of her clan's ointments, and a copy of an album.

She paused, bringing the album up, flicking through pages. She smiled blissfully at the pictures, instantly being reminded of the special memories she kept stored in her mind.

Hinata liked bringing the copy with her during missions. When she is unsure of herself, she would always flick through the pages and tell herself, "You have made it this far. Why give up when you can continue?"

She slung her bag over her shoulder, holding one strap.

She turned her head to look at the clock that hung on the wall. It's still 8 minutes until the agreed time, Hinata thought.

So she began to leisurely walk out of her room, nearly bumping onto her cousin, Neji.

Neji nodded at her, greeting, "Ohayo, Hinata-sama."

"O-ohayo, Neji-niisan."

He glanced at her backpack from the corners of his eyes, "On your way to a mission?"

"H-hai."

"Very well, good luck."

"A-arigato, Niisan..." Hinata smiled at him, raising her hand to wave at him, turning around as she jogged to the door.

"J-ja!" She slid the door open.

"Ja," Neji nodded, turning back to his walk.

After Hinata had slid the door shut, Neji smiled.

No, not a smirk!

A _real, genuine, sincere _smile!

And the reason he was smiling was because of Hinata. Yes, the shy girl had grown up. She was getting stronger, he noticed once when they were training.

He would block and block and Hinata would occasionally slip past and hit him.

He was proud to call Hinata his cousin, proud enough that he even thinks of Hinata as his sister.

* * *

><p>"Alright. The leader for this mission is Shikamaru," Tsunade nodded at Shikamaru, "Second-in-command is Hinata," she nodded.<p>

"The site of the scroll should be somewhere in this forest here," she gestured to the forest, "They just took it awhile ago so they won't be too far away."

"Understood," Shikamaru said.

Tsunade smirked, "Come back soon, you hear?"

"Yeah, yeah, let's start the mission already, Obaa—"

The Legendary Sucker punched Naruto in the gut, forcing him to fly away, much like the way Sakura does.

"I-itaiiii!" Naruto whined, a fountain of tears falling down comically.

Shikamaru sighed miserably, "This is gonna be a long mission."

Hinata smiled at him reassuringly, dropping her hand on his shoulder in comfort, while Sai simply smiled his usual fake smile.

After Naruto had finally stopped crying, they jumped of their places on the ground, hopping on trees rapidly.

Tsunade looked at the disappearing dots of lavender, orange, green and black, "Maa, I hope they accomplish this mission. That scroll is really important."

She positioned his back to the wall, "Sensei said that if anyone got their hands on that thing... Then the other dimensions are doomed."

"But anyway," she brought a hand to her hair, brush her bangs out of her face, "I have faith in them."

* * *

><p>Hinata panted, narrowly avoiding a dozen of kunai, sweat dripping off her face. Her byakugan blazed, searching for the opponent's tenketsu, "Juken!"<p>

She dodged as another appeared above, her palm hitting his chest. She slipped into a stance, ready to take on any more of them.

They had underestimated the amount of missing-nins. It seems that Tsunade is a bit like Naruto, saying 'few' when they really mean 'a few dozen'.

Sai drew a couple of lions, Shikamaru was beating his opponent with his strategy, and Naruto... Naruto had unleashed a large amount clones that filled all the spaces.

The three sweatdropped at the flood of Naruto clones as they charged at the poor, oblivious nins.

"ALRIGHT!"

"IT'S TIME TO KICK ASS!"

"WOOHOO!"

"TAKE THIS!"

They watched in silence, waiting patiently for Naruto to realize that the missing-nins were all dead.

Shikamaru wiped his sweat, Naruto falling his example, although more exaggeratedly.

Sai placed his scroll and paintbrush back to its original places.

They then turned to Hinata, who nodded. She activated her byakugan once again.

Hinata bit her lip in concentration, skimming the forest. She noticed no hidden traps, but noted that there was a strange light around the scroll. She glanced at Shikamaru, silently asking him through her eyes.

He nodded in approval, his gaze sliding onto the scroll.

She walked to it, observing the strange light that seemed to brighten when she came close.

Her hand raised over the scroll, slowly dropping down until her hand hit the scroll. She carefully took it out of its place on the ground.

She let her hand fall to her said, returning back to the others.

Naruto hugged Hinata, "Alright! Now that we got this mission wrapped up—"

When Naruto had suddenly embraced the now blushing madly girl, she had dropped the scroll in surprise, forcing itself to unfurl.

The bright light, it was glaringly bright that Hinata was temporarily blind.

The others, however, weren't, since they didn't see the light, having no byakugan.

The three gasped as some kind of force that they couldn't see, except for Hinata, grabbed the girl, who had her hand out, trying to desperately hold onto anything.

Naruto dashed, his hand out, "HINATA!"

But he was too late.

Hinata was taken.

Shikamaru and Sai sprinted to his side. Naruto shook his head, dropping it low.

"Mendokuse, what are we gonna tell the Godaime?"

The jinchuuriki drowned in his thoughts, all saying one thing.

_Hinata..._

* * *

><p><strong>TBC<strong>

**Soo... This chapter is really short, but I'm hoping to make it longer in the future.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Slight Hesitance**

**2**

**Disclaimer: I own neither Detective Conan nor Naruto.**

* * *

><p>Hinata steadied herself, her hand clutching a tree branch, shaking it slightly that several leaves fell. Wincing, she placed her other hand on her head, willing the headache to stop.<p>

Seeing that it was no use, she tried to take in the surroundings, her eyes blurred.

Wh-what had happened?

Whatever happened, it cause her dizziness to happen. Her chakra was still depleted from the previous fight, she shouldn't use any medical jutsu to stop her headache, she must save her chakra.

Her ear twitched, hearing soft footprints that was close by. A flurry of voices followed, but it was quiet, like the footprints.

Hinata felt her curiosity peak. She didn't feel any chakra signature!

After the voices stopped, she lightly hopped of the tree she had somehow fallen onto after that scroll—  
>W-wait, what did that scroll do? I don't recognise this place!<p>

She shifted her head from left to right, trying to piece together on where she is.

She positioned her back to the tree, sliding down until her buttocks hit the green grass.

What should I do?

What should I do?

She bit her lip, tucking her side bang behind her ear. All I know that I was sent to this place by that scroll. Did that scroll have a transportation jutsu sealed?

Her bones ached from all the fighting that happened earlier, yelling for a rest.

Hinata sighed, closing her eyes for a moment, listening to the gentle breeze, leaning forward to that hand touching her chin— Wait, what?

She frantically opened her eyes, her hand reaching for her pouch, the other one trying to stop the stranger's hand.

But she was too late. Her hands dropped to her side, her eyes rolling into the back of her head, her back slumping.

* * *

><p>"Oi, Vodka."<p>

He turned his head towards the speaker, "What is it, Aniki?"

"... Didn't you hear something?" Gin craned his neck slightly, watching what was behind him with the corner of his eyes.

"Eh?" Vodka whirled his head around.

"It was as if something fell," Gin shifted his eyes, "I also saw quite an amount of leaves fall from one of the trees."

"But couldn't be just a squirrel?"

"No squirrel can be heavy enough. Look at the grass beneath the tree, it has more leaves out of all the leaves underneath those other trees in this park."

"You're right..." Vodka lowered his voice, "What should we do, Aniki?"

"Dispose of the spy," Gin smirked.

He then walked quietly to that tree, not looking back to see if his partner followed or not.

His hand taking a box out of his pocket, he opened the item and took out a pill and flask of water.

As he walked closer, he could see that the spy was someone who seemed to be resting, her eyes closed.

Smirking, he thought to himself.

What a pesky trick this girl is trying to do. This girl must be stupid to think that a ploy like this could actually trick me.

He gestured for Vodka to hit the girl's pressure point, should the girl protest.

Gin roughly took the girl's chin, opening her mouth slightly. He forced the pill inside her mouth, her hands stopping from its action from when Vodka hit her neck.

He then opened the flask, letting the water flow down into the girl's throat, effectively making her swallow the pill.

After he did so, he stood up from his position he had to do in order to level himself with the girl.

"Vodka, let's go."

Vodka nodded. The two then started to run, wary that someone had saw them.

* * *

><p>At the middle of the night, Conan and Ran walked down the street, the latter holding a plastic bag that was full of cans of beer for her alcoholic father.<p>

"Mou, Otou-san..." the brunette grumbled to herself, "Why I outta..."

As she continued rambling to herself, Conan heard voices that soon developed into running footsteps.

Curious, he ran ahead of Ran, towards Beika Park, where he had heard the sounds.

"O-oi, Conan-kun!"

But the boy was already out of sight. Ran sighed, her shoulders sagging.

She couldn't run to him, it would shake the cans and her father would complain to her when he opens them.

Conan halted his steps, his shoes' heels digging into the ground, "N-nani?"

There was a child, around his age, who was whimpering from the cold, unconscious and clutching on clothes that were too big for her.

Could it be...

The bespectacled detective neared, his mind circling one possibility.

Could it be that...

Conan clenched his fingers, his nails digging into his palm.

The Black Organisation poisoned her?

If it was true, then Conan had to help her, if the BO found out that she was still alive, they would kill her.

Ran finally caught up with him, "Conan-kun, what's wrong?"

Receiving no response, she turned her head to where he is looking at, her eyebrow cocked.

"Oh!" she gasped.

She ran to the girl, carefully not jiggling the plastic much, "Conan-kun! What are you doing? Come help me!"

Said boy shook his head, returning back from his thoughts, "H-hai!"

He took the plastic bag, letting Ran carry the girl, knowing that he didn't have much strength to carry her.

"Poor girl," Ran smiled in sympathy to the girl she was holding, "Is she homeless?"

As Ran continued to coo over the 'adorable, cute, precious' little girl, Conan let his mind drift off again.

How would they explain the girl's shrunken state to her family and friends? Should they take her in for awhile? What if she freaks out and tell the police? What if her family looks for her?

"Ne, Ran-neechan?"

"Hmm?"

"What should we do with her?"

"Well, she can sleep in my room, until we figure this all out tomorrow."

Conan nodded, "That's sounds like a good idea."

Ran smiled at him, climbing up the stairs, "Can you open the door for me, Conan-kun?"

"Sure!"

Gripping on the knob, he turned it. They were met with the sight of the great Sleeping Kogoro hunched over the table, doing what his title states... _sleeping_.

"Mou! And we took all the trouble to buy his beer!"

Ran was stomping her feet around, careful to not disrupt the girl.

"Uhhh..." Conan sweatdropped, "Atleast we don't have to buy more tomorrow!"

She stopped her actions, smiling brightly to him, "Right!"

After Ran's little fit, they readied themselves for bed.

Ran grabbed a futon she had in her closet, preparing the little girl's bed.

Glancing at the girl's innocent face, she hoped that they could help her.

"Goodnight," she smiled.

Tucking the girl in, she herself lay on her bed, slowly drifting to sleep.

* * *

><p>Hearing no more noises in the apartment, Conan pulled out his cellphone, dialing a certain scientist's number.<p>

_Ring... Ring... Ring.. Ri_—

"What?"

Noting the eerie tone of her voice, he sheepishly said, "Uh, had a good night's sleep?"

"I was... until you interrupted it."

"Hehehe... Well, you see..." Conan hoped that he didn't anger the scary girl.

"Out with it!"

He sweatdropped, "Hai, ma'am!"

"Why did you call?"

"Ah, yes. It seems that the BO have did it again."

"Did what?" her voice now held a curious tone, shadowing her previous one.

"Drugged."

"N-nani? Who? Where? When?"

"You heard me. I don't know the identification of the girl yet, she was found by Ran and I in Beika Park. We found her around an hour ago."

"Hmm," there was silence for awhile.

"We'll talk about this tomorrow, after we find out who she is. It's much easier that way. And I'm still sleepy."

"Hai," Conan nodded, despite knowing that Ai couldn't see him.

"Have a good nigh—"

Conan stared at his phone, annoyance building up in him, "She hung up on me!"

Crossing his arms, he pouted to himself, grumbling, "Who does she think she is... hanging up on the great Kudo Shinichi, High School Detective of the East..."

As he continued to grumble to himself, he tucked himself to bed, falling asleep.

The last thought he had for the day was...

_That girl... Who is she?_

* * *

><p><strong>TBC<strong>

**Woo! Finished Chapter 2! Also, if you're wondering about the whole 'spy' thing back then at the Beika Park, it's because Gin thought that Hinata was one, since people don't normally 'hide' in trees. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Don't get too impatient in waiting for the chapters; I'm quite preoccupied about my school work.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Slight Hesitance**

**3**

**Disclaimer: I own neither Detective Conan nor Naruto.**

* * *

><p>Two birds flew across the sky, fluttering their wings in excitement to the new day.<p>

The bright rays of the sun pierced through the window, glaring at the little girl who laid asleep on a futon.

"Nng..."

A hand was brought to her eyes, rubbing them in a groggy state. Her other hand was up in the air, stretching as she opened her mouth, a long yawn coming out. She pushed herself, sitting up.

"U-uhn..."

After a moment, she opened her pale eyes, immediately regretting her action. Grimacing for the sunlight, she cover her eyes with a hand.

She let herself be acquainted to the lighting first, before removing the hand. She inhaled the sweet aroma of her pillow, which lay on her lap.

Ch-chotto—

Eyes widening in realization, she threw her blanket off herself. This wasn't her pillow! This wasn't her blanket!

Taking a long glance around the room, she clenched her fist in confusion. This wasn't her bedroom either!

Hinata pulled open the door, running to a random direction, only to fall back on her butt, "E-eh?"

She looked up at the person who she bumped into, a girl with long brown hair, "G-g-gomenasai!"

Taking the hand that was offered, she pulled herself up. The other girl said, "It's alright."

"Ne, what's your name?"

"Huh? O-oh! My name i-is Hyuuga H-hinata. Y-yoroshiku!" She bowed deeply, her hands playing with the hem of her dress— Wait a minute. She didn't wear a dress!

The girl smiled, "That's such a cute name! I'm Mouri Ran, yoroshiku."

Hinata blushed at Ran's compliment, "A-arigatou..."

They start walking to the direction Ran came from, "You're probably wondering where you are right now, ne?"

"A-ah... Hai."

Ran laid her hand on Hinata's shoulder, "You're in my house, we found you in a park last night. You were shivering from the cold! I couldn't just leave you there," she smiled.

Hinata tilted her head, "W-we?"

"Mhm!" She nodded her head, "Conan-kun and I found you last night. He's like a little brother to me."

Ran raised her index finger, leaning it against her lip, "That reminds me," she looked at Hinata with pity, "Are you homeless Hinata-chan? The clothes you were wearing were too big for you."

Huh? Why would she think that?

She looked down, only to freeze. Was this a genjutsu? Did she unconsciously do a henge while asleep?

"Oi, Ran!" Huh? Who said that?

Hinata watched as a middle-aged man yelled at the brunette girl, demanding for some more beer.

"Mou, Otou-san!" Ahh, so he was Mour-san's father.

"It's still morning! Yet you are already drunk!" She wagged her finger infront of her father's face, scolding him.

Conan, who was sitting on the couch, playing on his phone, sweatdropped. He looked around the room in boredom, his eyes stopping on Hinata's figure. So she's finally awake, huh? I need to bring her to Haibara and discuss the situation, "Ne, Ran-neechan!"

He ran to her, greeting the little girl who shyly hid behind Ran's legs, "Ohayo, Shoujo-san! I'm Edogawa Conan! What's your name?"

Hinata glanced at the boy over Ran's legs, he was grinning widely, his hands behind his head in a carefree stature.

_He reminds me of N-naruto-kun..._

She blushed once again, ducking her head.

"H-hyuuga... Hinata. Yo-yoroshiku, Edogawa-san," she bowed cutely.

The bespectacled boy blushed slightly. She's kinda cute...

"Ne, Hinata-chan. You can call me Conan-kun! I wouldn't mind," he smiled.

"A-ano... Okay," she hesitantly gave a small of her own.

"I'll introduce you to my friends later, after we eat breakfast. Is that alright?"

"H-hai."

_Conan-kun..._

* * *

><p>Kogoro burped loudly, gaining disgusted grimaces and looks from both Ran and Conan. Hinata didn't mind though, Chouji-kun burps louder than that. She had gotten to know Team 10 while they helped babysit Kurenai's child while the red-eyed woman would do chores.<p>

"Ran-san..." She chose not to call her Mouri, since Kogoro-san and Ran-san could get confused on who she was calling out.

"Eh?" Ran turned her head towards her.

She smiled shyly, "Th-the meal was d-delicious."

"Oh! Arigatou!"

Seeing that the others were standing up, she followed their example. Once she did so a hand gripped her wrist. It took all of her willpower to stop her ninja instincts from reacting.

"Come on, Hinata-chan! I'll introduce you to Agasa-hakase and Haibara first!"

They ran through the streets, Conan still keeping his hold on the girl. After a few minutes, they finally skidded to a stop infront of a house that was quite large.

Conan stretched his other hand, pressing a button that made a loud ring noise. As if on cue, a large boom was heard, prompting Hinata to activate her byakugan. Once she did so, she quickly put a genjutsu over her eyes to avoid questions.

Scanning around the house, she saw a large silhouette who seemed to be coughing.

She followed Conan through the house, once they were facing the door, she deactivated her byakugan and let Conan drag her inside.

"Agasa-hakase!" She helped the boy pull up the coughing man.

"Ohayo, Shinichi," Agasa coughed, "I must still be dizzy from the explosion, I'm seeing two!"

Hinata blinked, "A-ano, actually th-there are t-two..."

"O-oh! Is that so..." He freezed, "I meant... Chiaki Shinichi! The main guy in that manga called Nodame Cantabile! He's my favorite character! Right, Sh—Conan-kun?"

Conan sweatdropped at the professor, "Right..."

The girl tilted her head in confusion. What was a 'manga'?

While the dark-haired girl contemplated on what a manga was, Conan leaned closer to Agasa, whispering to his ear, "Hakase, can you please go to the lobby in a few minutes?"

"Eh? Doushite?"

Conan glanced at Hinata from the corner of his eyes, "It's a discussion about her. She was turned by one of the BO."

"Really?" Agasa copied Conan's action, glancing at her with sympathy, "Poor girl must be wondering what's been happening."

"That's what confuses me."

"Huh?" Agase blinked.

"Ever since she woke, she didn't even ask once. Why is that?"

"Maybe she's used to it?"

Conan deadpanned, "How can she be used to turning into a child?"

"Ahaha... Gomen," the professor rubbed his head sheepishly.

"Anyway, we need to talk about it with Haibara."

"Got it, see you in a little bit. I'll do some pre-cleaning while you call for Haibara."

Conan nodded, once again grabbing the girl's hand, "Come on, Hinata-chan! We're gonna call Haibara, so both she and hakase can introduce themselves later."

"Ahh... Okay."

Knocking twice on a door, he called out, "Oi, Haibara!"

After a bit of silence, shuffling was heard inside the room. The door creaked open, displaying a girl who was the same age of Conan and Hinata's current state.

"Oh good, you're here."

"We'll talk about it with hakase in the lobby," Hinata was once again confused by this. Talk about what?

The three of them then started walking to a direction that Hinata presumed to be where the lobby was.

Once they entered the room, the auburn-haired girl started talking, "So, now that we're all in here... What's your name?"

Hinata looked up, her fingers fiddling with each other, "H-Hinata Hyuuga. Y-yoroshiku," she bowed.

"Ahh, yoroshiku to you as well, Hinata-kun. I'm Hiroshi Agasa."

Ai introduced herself next, "Haibara Ai."

"Now that we're done with introductions," Ai crossed her arms, "Do you understand what situation you are in, Hyuuga-san?"

She shook her head, "I-Iie."

"Did you confront any suspicious people wearing black?"

Hinata bit her lip in thought, "I d-didn't see anyone, b-but I remember b-being forced t-to d-drink something. I can o-only remember th-that much. Go-gomenasai..."

"Yappari!" Conan exclaimed.

"A-ano... Conan-kun, what is i-it the you knew?"

Conan's expression turned serious, "You were poisoned."

Wh-what? Hinata's eyes grew wide.

"Who d-did it?"

It was Ai who answered, "They are known as the Black Organization. The BO commits crimes such as illegal deals, blackmail, robberies, and assassinations to raise money for research."

"B-but why would th-they do this to me?"

What if the poison prevented her from using chakra? Wait... No, she's able to use chakra, she had activated her byakugan only awhile ago. But she was sure that if she use henge to transform into her original form, they would be suspicious.

After a long discussion about the Black Organization, wherein she found out that Conan-kun and Haibara-san were also turned, she asked a question, "B-but wh-where would I s-stay?"

Agasa perked up, "You can stay here in our house! We have lots of roo—"

"No," Ai interrupted, "I would be putting her in danger. I am already risking Hakase. Can't she stay with you, Kudo-kun?"

"Maa, fine. Ran seems to like her anyway."

"Then it's settled," Ai yawned, "Goodbye, Kudo-kun, Hyuuga-san. I was just sleeping until I heard a certain professor explode one of his inventions again," she shot a glare at Agasa, who nervously smiled.

Both Hinata and Conan bid their farewells, waving.

"See you guys later."

"B-bye."

_I wonder what it's like in this world with no ninja.  
><em>

* * *

><p><strong>TBC<strong>

**Hope you liked this chapter! Sorry for the wait, my usual text editor was malfunctioning :(**


	4. Chapter 4

**Slight Hesitance**

**4**

**Disclaimer: I own neither Detective Conan nor Naruto.**

* * *

><p>Hinata nervously twiddled with her fingers as she walked alongside her new teacher, Kobayashi-sensei. Conan-kun had said that it would seem suspicious and weird if a seven year old girl like her doesn't go to school, so he took the liberty of enrolling her into his and Haibara-san's school, Teitan Elementary.<p>

"Wait here for a moment, Hinata-chan," Kobayashi-sensei gently smiled.

"H-hai," Hinata nodded obediently, wringing her fingers together.

Sensei then entered the classroom of Class 1-B, "Ohayou, minna-san!"

"Ohayou, Kobayashi-sensei!" The class chorused.

"Today we have a new student joining us!" Kobayashi grinned, her hands on her hips.

The students burst into a chatter, whispering about the student, "I wonder if it's a boy or a girl," "I hope we don't get some boring kid," "I hope we can be friends!"

Kobayashi raised her hand, signalling for the class to silence. Once no sound was heard, she clapped her hands merrily, "Now! Shall I introduce her to you?"

"She! It's a she!"

"I hope she's cute!"

Hinata blushed, knocking on the door quietly, before she slowly opened it. She let her gaze wander around the room, a smile appearing on her face as she set her eyes onto Conan and Haibara.

Kobayashi took the young girl's hand, bringing her in front of the whole class, "Class, meet Hyuuga Hinata-chan, she will be learning with us starting today," She took a chalk and wrote the characters for Hinata's name on the board.

"Waa! Kawaii!"

Hinata played with her dress' hem, biting her lip nervously, "O-ohayou gozaimasu... M-minna-san," she bowed.

"Ne, Hinata-chan," Sensei started, "Why don't you sit next to Conan-kun?"

"H-hai, sensei."

Doing as Kobayashi-sensei said, she set her bag down on her table, picking out the appropriate materials for the current subject.

She was a bit nervous for her first day in elementary, since she hadn't gone to school since she was twelve.

_At least Conan-kun and Haibara-san are here..._

* * *

><p>Hinata slung her backpack over her shoulder, following Conan-kun and Haibara-san, who were both talking to three children of the same age they were currently in.<p>

"Ah! Isn't this the girl from earlier? Kawaii!" The girl with short brunette hair gushed upon noticing Hinata, grinning enthusiastically.

"What was her name again? Juuga Anata?" Thechubby boy questioned, squinting his eyes.

The boy with freckles frowned, shaking his head disapprovingly, "Iie, Genta-kun! Her name's Hyuuga Hinata!"

The girl giggled, "Mou, you're so forgetful, Genta-kun."

The chubby boy, identified as Genta, blushed, "I didn't forget! I just didn't remember!"

"Isn't that the same thing?" The two laughed at Genta.

"A-ano..." A small, sweet voice interrupted them, "M-my name's H-Hyuuga Hi-Hinata," Hinata bowed, "Yoroshiku onegaishimasu..."

The girl with short brunette hair stepped in front of the white-eyed girl, "Yoshida Ayumi! You can call me Ayumi-chan, Hinata-chan!"

"Tsuburaya Mitsuhiko. Pleased to be your acquaintance, Hyuuga-san."

"The name's Kojima Genta," he grinned, "How ya' doin'?"

They turned to Conan and Haibara, who were both whispering to each other. "Conan-kun, Haibara-san! You should introduce yourselves to Hyuuga-san!" Mitsuhiko said.

"I-it's alright, Mitsuhiko-kun. I a-already know th-them..."

Ayumi ran to the two, "Waa! Honto, Conan-kun? Why didn't you guys introduce her sooner!"

Haibara rolled her eyes, "I just met her yesterday. Edogawa-kun met her two nights ago. I heard that her parents are a friend of Hakase's."

"Hakase should have told us then!"

"Don't go complain to me."

"Anyway," Conan said in a loud voice, "What do you guys want to do today?"

Genta gasped, "That's right! We should check if any cases have been sent to my shoe locker!"

"C-cases?" Hinata tilted her head curiously.

"Yeah! 'Cause we're the Detective Boys!" Genta grinned, "We get these cool cases and solve them for our client!"

"Ah..." Hinata thought it was kinda similar to the system for missions back home.

"Hurry up, guys!" Ayumi ran ahead, grinning as she did so.

Conan sighed, "Oi, oi. No need to hurry. It's not like it'll magically disappear."

The three enthusiastic kids of the Detective Boys held their breaths as Genta slowly opened the shoe locker's door.

Nothing.

"Aww!" They groaned, slumping their shoulders. Genta sluggishly took his outdoor shoes out.

"Ne, why don't we celebrate Hyuuga-san's joining of the Detective Boys?" Haibara suggested, hoping that they would stop whining.

"Yeah! Let's go to that new cafe that opened near Conan-kun's home!"

Ayumi grabbed Hinata's wrist running ahead of the others, "Last one there is a rotten egg!"

"No fair, you got a head start!"

"Come on, Haibara-san! We're gonna get left behind!"

"Oi!" Conan raised his voice in a feeble attempt to gain the children's attention. He sighed, his eyebrow twitching as he trudge toward the direction they had ran off to.

* * *

><p>"Sugoi!" The real children gasped, looking around enthusiastically. They had just entered the new cafe, Altamont[1]. The whole place was decorated for the holiday. Every nook and cranny was filled with ornaments for Christmas. Fake snowflakes hung from the ceiling, each on varying in length of string, and in size. Beside the entrance was a Christmas tree that was decorated with ornaments, glitter littered around it.<p>

Hinata gaped, amazed at the beautiful display, "I-it's so pretty..."

A woman, who looked to be in her mid-20s, welcomed them and led them to a table nearby.

They each took a menu and began contemplating on their orders. Genta was practically drooling at all the food listed, "I want _everything_!"

Mitsuhiko shook his head, "Genta-kun! We don't have enough money!"

"B-but... Look!" Genta tried to persuade him, showing him the pictures of each cake, cookie, cupcake, etc.

"Yes, I know they look quite delicious Genta-kun, but we should be considering our money first!"

"Ex-excuse me..." Hinata quietly interrupted, managing to catch the arguing boys' attention, "If Genta-kun really wa-wants everything... I c-could pay f-for the bill..."

Her father had always requested that she bring a large amount of money, 'just in case'. She didn't really have much use to that money, so she thought of spending for her new friends.

Genta blinked, before flailing his arms, "N-no no! You don't need to do that!" He also seemed to have a slight blush due to her kindness.

"If you're sure..." She smiled sweetly, her eyes crinkling.

Turning to her head to the right, she noticed that both Conan and Haibara were wearing uninterested looks.

"Ne, Cona—" Ayumi was interrupted when suddenly, a police car parked in front of the cafe, its sirens blaring.

Hinata immediately activated her byakugan, carefully masking her bulging veins with a genjutsu. Upon activating, she looked around with her byakugan, searching the entire cafe before her pearly white eyes stopped on what looked like a woman's body.

"Hinata-chan!" Blinking, she saw Conan waiting for her, outstretching his hand, "Come on! Let's go see what it is!"

They pushed through the crowd of people, both curious to what the fuss is about. Conan expected it to be another murder, as one always seem to happen around him.

Seeing Megure-keibu and Takagi-keiji, Conan knew his assumption was correct. Both men noticed him, Hinata, and his other friends, who finally made it out of the crowd, "Conan-kun!"

"What's going on?" Conan innocently asked.

Takagi took out his PNB[2], flipping through the pages before eventually stopping, "A woman by the name of Sumiko Fujioka was found dead insi—"

"Takagi!" Megure bellowed, his loud voice stopping the younger man from continuing, "That is not information that children should know."

"B-but, he always helps us on cases like this," he weakly tried to reason.

Conan slumped his shoulders in disappointment when Takagi was interrupted by Megure. Grrreeaattt. How was he going to know about the case? Well, he supposed that he could sneak around and see the crime scene himself.

Quietly, he sneaked pass Takagi and Megure, who were both still talking.

Once inside the restroom, he saw a few drops of blood near an open stall. He noticed that the restroom was notably hot. Was it already like this earlier?

He cautiously walked towards it, peering inside the open stall. Instantly, he paled at the sight. A young woman was lying down on the floor, on her side, next to the toilet. There was a large gash on her neck, where blood was still oozing. Next to her, mixed with blood, was a puddle of water. Her right hand laid limply on that puddle of mixed water/blood. Her lifeless, dilated pupils stared at the ceiling.

_The weapon must be a sharp knife or something. But how come there is water mixed with the blood? _

In the midst of thinking, he failed to notice the rest of the Detective Boys, who also sneaked past the two men, as they began eyeing the victim.

_Megure-keibu probably ordered to have no one come in, and to have no one come out already. That means the culprit and the weapon could still be in this cafe._

Hinata inspected the woman from a distance, her still activated byakugan helping her with the inspection.

"Conan-kun."

Said boy swivelled his head in her direction upon hearing his name, "Nani?"

She walked towards the corpse, dropping down to her knees. Though she wasn't as good as Sakura when it came to being a medic, she learned quite a lot from both the pink-haired girl and her master.

"Th-the muscular tissues haven't become r-rigid yet. They are s-still capable of c-contraction. S-so, she must have d-died recently, before th-three hours ago."

Conan checked it himself before confirming with a nod, "Right."

"Wh-what are you kids doing here?"

Takagi tried to push them out of the crime scene before anything happens, "This isn't a place for playing games! You should go home right now!"

"Waa! But, Takagi-keiji!"

"Takagi!" Megure entered, "We just received word that the rigor mortis hasn't set yet, so she probably died under three hours ago. Go to the manager and go see the security tapes from within 4:38 PM, the time she was discovered, to 1:38 PM. Watch and see who were going in and out of this restroom."

"Hai!" Quickly, Takagi left to follow Megure's order.

"Now..." Megure faced the children, "You guys should let us police take care of this. It is our job after a—"

"Ne, keibu. Can you tell us a bit more about the woman? Like... Does she have any complications with anyone? Does she have a job?"

Megure sighed dejectedly, "Fine... From what our sources gathered, she had graduated from her university a few months ago with her boyfriend, who she found out was cheating on her several times already. She is currently unemployed, but we were told that she wanted to be a famous sculptor one day, particularly an ice sculptor."

"Is that so..." Conan bit his thumb's nail in deep thought.

"Megure-keibu!" Tagaki seemed to be back already, carrying a pile of tapes, "There were a lot of women coming in and out of this restroom, and I couldn't keep track of them all. I borrowed the tapes so that we could watch them and identify their identities later."

Hinata let her gaze wander to a nearby window, watching as snowflakes dropped from above. Small icicles, placed on the roof's edge, glistened slightly. Then, her eyes widened in realization.

She placed her hand on Conan's shoulder, shaking it slightly, "C-Conan-kun!"

Conan was shook off of his thoughts as she did so, "Nani?"

"Ice!"

"What do you mea—" Much like what Hinata did earlier, he widened his eyes. It wasn't long before his face melted into a smirk.

_So that's how it is!_

* * *

><p><strong>1: <strong>**Altamont, the alias used by Sherlock Holmes in the story "****His Last Bow****".**

**2: A police notebook, pocket notebook or PNB is a notebook used by policeofficers to officially record details and incidents while on patrol.**

**A/N: Heheee! Sorry for the long wait, I just couldn't think of what to write! T.T Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter and tell me what you think about it in the reviews. This is my first time plotting a 'murder', so I don't really know what to do ^^; There's still more to come, so please come back once in a while to check if I have updated(That'll be a looong time, though.).**


	5. Chapter 5

**Slight Hesitance**

**5**

**Disclaimer: I own neither Detective Conan nor Naruto.**

* * *

><p><em>Ice! The murder weapon must be ice!<em>

Conan smirked to himself in this discovery. That would explain the water mixed in with Fujioka-san's blood. Now he only need to find the culprit and some evidence. But that would prove difficult if Takagi and Megure won't let him see the tapes...

His previous smug smirk slid off his face, bringing his hand onto his chin, as he would always do when thinking deeply. How could he somehow convince them to let him see? Maybe the Detective Boys can distract them while he sneaks off to watch the tapes?

He sighed, agitated. He let himself relax for a moment, knowing that the truth will be eventually revealed. Perhaps those white eyes of Hinata could beg Megure? Naaah. He didn't think that woul— Wait. Come to think of it, when everyone in class saw her eyes, why didn't they immediately ask her questions? He himself has questions to ask her about her eyes, but didn't press just incase it was a sensitive subject. He was curious as to why she had such pearly white eyes much akin to blind eyes. Ran, Kogoro, Kobayashi, and the others must've thought she was blind and didn't press further, as did he.

Pulling out his Earring Cellphone, he pressed Hakase's number before leaning on the wall, his free hand inside his pocket.

_Ring Ri_—

"Moshi moshi?"

"Hakase, would you mind searching for some information for me?"

"Of course not, Shinichi. What would you like to know?"

"Sumiko Fuijoka."

"Very well then, I will call you back once I am done."

"Arigato. Ja ne."

"Ja mata ne, Shinichi-kun."

He snatched the phone off of his ear, pocketing the gadget inside his pocket. He should probably join the other Detective Boys before they go looking for him.

* * *

><p>Upon arriving Konoha, Naruto immediately raced to the Hokage Tower to report Hinata's disappearance, leaving behind a trail of dust.<p>

"Troublesome," Shikamaru muttered, chasing after the blonde, Sai behind him.

Tsunade was in the brink of falling into her much awaited sleep when the slam of the doors surprised her, "Huhh—"

"OBAA-CHAAAAAN!" His scream completely woke her up, "What in the world?"

In front of her stood the hyperactive blonde, who panted as he spoke, "Obaa-chan! Hinata-chan was taken by the scroll you ordered us to retrieve!"

"Nani!" Tsunade stood up from her position on the chair, her hands stomping on the desk as it rumbled from her strength, "And where the hell is that scroll?"

Just as soon as she said that, Shikamaru and Sai entered from the door, "Hokage-sama, I think it would be best if it is I who would report to you what had happened during the mission. Naruto is a bit saddened from her disappearace."

The Legendary Sucker nodded, "Right."

Shikamaru stood up straight, "Just as she received the scroll, Hinata-san[1] dropped the scroll, causing it to open and inhale her. What confuses me is why Hinata was the only one that was sucked in. There's the possibility that the scroll only sucked her in because of her eyes."

Tsunade groaned, banging her head on the desk, "Hiashi and Neji are gonna have a hissy fit once they hear of this."

Naruto looked surprised, "I could understand Neji being mad about it, since he's her protector and treats her like a sister, but Hiashi? Last time I heard, he doesn't even have an ounce of worry for Hinata!"

"Though it may seem so, Hiashi is very worried for Hinata," Tsunade said, "He just doesn't know how to express his love."

"If you say so..."

"And not only because of that, but whoever made that scroll suck Hinata in must've wanted her for her eyes. Where is that scroll, anyway?"

Sai took off his pack, taking out the scroll, "Right here, Hokage-sama."

Tsunade sighed in relief, "Oh thank goodness," she took the scroll off his outstretched hand, "I'll be keeping this in a safe place for now."

Shikamaru put his hands on his pockets, "So how are we going to tell the Hyuugas?"

"That's _your _problem, Nara."

"Troublesome... Why me?" Shikamaru groaned.

"The papers I handed to you specifically said that _you_are the team leader for this mission."

"Fine, fine," he sighed in defeat.

Tsunade smirked, shooing them off her office. Now, she can finally get back to slee—"

_BANG_

She opened her eyes again as soon as she heard the noise. Mountains of papers were placed on her desk by her assistant.

Groaning, she slammed her head down the desk again, sending a bit of the papers flying.

—There shall be lines—

Naruto knocked thunderously on the Hyuuga clan's compound's front gate, "Oiiii! Neji! C'mon, open the damn door! Nejiii—"

A punch was what interrupted him from his rambling. Shikamaru glared at him, "Geez, shut up for once."

The gate soon opened, where an annoyed Neji stood inside, "What is it? You better have an explanation for waking up half of the compound in the middle of the night."

"What?" Naruto gaped, "It's night already?" Indeed, it was already night time. Thousands of stars were littered around the sky.

"I didn't even notice!" He laughed sheepishly.

"Well? The reason you came? My patience is running out."

Naruto nodded, "Right! Well, you see..." he nervously looked at his companion, "Shikamaru, you tell him! Tsunade said that _you_have to do it!"

"Troublesome... Fine," Shikamaru rolled his eyes, internally praying for his life to continue, "Hinata is missing," Short and straight to the point.

"WHAT?" Neji growled, grabbing the strategist's collar and hefting him up. He had unconsciously activated his byakugan, his eyes glaring into the other's.

_This is not gonna end well…_

* * *

><p>Conan had received the information from Hakase a few minutes ago. Sumiko Fujioka was very fond of snow and ice. She hated anything that felt hot to her. The ice she uses in ice sculptures were very big and strong, capable of penetrating through skin, tissue, muscles and bone. There was a possibility that the culprit had taken one of Fujioka's sculptures, since most of them were ice knifes, ice swords, etc. Now that he knew what could possibly be the murder weapon, he moved on to the possible suspects. Kyouta Nakamura was on the top of his list. Hakase told him that Nakamura cheated on Fujioka too many times to count, and that he abused her physically when his anger gets the best of him. The second on his list was her younger sister, Shizuka Fujioka, who he heard was the girlfriend of someone who likes the victim. The last was her mother, Kimiko Fujioka, who was actually her stepmother. Kimiko Fujioka seemed to hate that her husband gave Sumiko Fujioka more attention than to his wife.<p>

Sighing, he rubbed his head, "Now I only need to watch those tapes..."

Hinata stood with the other members of the Detective Boys, eyeing the little detective worriedly with her white eyes. Maybe she could help him... She activated her byakugan, another genjutsu covering the veins. The heiress saw her chance to steal the tapes from the police when she looked to the right, where Takagi had left them on a nearby table.

Glancing back at the others, she saw them scattered around the bathroom, searching for clues. Once she was sure that no one was watching her anywhere, she quickly used Shunshin to appear beside the table, swatting away a few clouds of smoke before taking the tapes and reappearing back again to where she once stood. Fortunately, no one noticed what she had just done, which gained a sigh of relief from Hinata.

She walked over quietly beside Conan, tapping him meekly with her finger, "C-Conan-kun...?" When she saw that she had his attention, she thrust the tapes into his arms, blushing, "I f-figured you needed th-them..."

Conan looked at her in surprise as she gave him the tapes. How did she get the tapes and still be unnoticed? He glanced at the table were he knew the tapes once lay, and saw another stack of tapes there. Did she replace them? They'd notice that they were fakes once they watch them, though.

Hinata noticed him looking back at the table where she took the tapes. He must be wondering about the other stack of tapes, she thought. She had placed another genjutsu at the area. Kurenai-sensei was a master at genjutsu, after all.

"Thanks, Hinata-chan!" he grinned childishly, to which Hinata smiled in response, "I wouldn't know how to solve the case without you."

"I-it's no problem, C-Conan-kun..." Blushing, she played with the hem of her jacket(a part of the new wardrobe Ran had bought for her).

"But where could I watch these? There might be someone inside the surveillance room... And I'm sure that's the only place we can watch the tapes with," he rubbed his chin thoughtfully with his free hand.

_Hmm... Think, Conan, think!_

He creased his eyebrows, biting his lip in concentration.

* * *

><p><strong>1: Is that how Shikamaru calls her? xD<strong>

**A/N: Wooh! Finally finished the chapter after days of plotting xD I was pretty busy with school and stuff like that, too. So sorry for the long wait and the shortness of the chapter ^^; Please enjoy!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Slight Hesitance**

**6**

**Disclaimer: I own neither Detective Conan nor Naruto.**

* * *

><p>As Conan mumbled to himself, Hinata placed another genjutsu —though she doesn't seem like it, she's quite the genjutsu master like her teacher— on the surveillance room to avoid anyone catching them, she crossed her fingers to Naruto's signature move and quickly popped up two clones of herself. One of her clones henged into Conan. Thankfully, Conan had walked off to Haibara, maybe to get some ideas on how to sneak inside the surveillance room. With that done, she signaled for her clones to hide and walked to Conan just as he finished speaking to Haibara.<p>

"Kuso!" Conan hissed, "How am I going to get inside the room? Even Haibara doesn't have an idea how! There shouldn't be anyone guarding the room, but anyone could happen to pass by while I try to get inside the surveillance room. Actually, is it even unlocked?"

"C-Conan-kun..." a quiet voice interrupted him from his ramblings.

He turned around and raised an eyebrow towards the shy dark-haired girl that stood infront of him, "Nani?"

"Uh—Ahmm..." Hinata shook her head, tugging on his sleeve, "Th-the door t-to the surveillance r-room is unlocked."

It is? Conan blinked. He was so sure that he watched as a staff member locked it with a key half an hour ago.

Shrugging it off, he grabbed Hinata's wrist and pulled her with him as he walked to the door. Surprisingly, no one seemed to even notice their absence. Sighing in relief, he turned back to the door and placed his hand on the doorknob. Slowly, he started to twist it and opened the door. He shifted his eyes, wary that someone might catch them.

Upon entering, he quickly locked the door and placed one of the tapes inside the VCR. This continued on until the very last tape.

Hinata and Conan watched attentively on the screen, intent on catching a sight of the possible suspects. So far, they haven't caught a glimpse of their suspects. However, they did catch the victim walking into the store.

Fujioka's walk was rather sluggish. Maybe she had a rough day? Both of the teenagers-turned-children watched as she laid a hand onto her messenger bag. The strange thing was that certain part of her bag was wet. Dripping.

When Conan saw that part of the video, he knew. He smirked that victorious smirk he gets when he solves a case.

Hinata, however, was still a bit confused. Sure, she helped with some hints and all, but maybe solving cases wasn't really her forte.

"I got it!" Conan pumped up his fist, a huge grin on his face.

As they walked outside the surveillance room—Hinata locked it again, just incase anyone notices—, she dispelled the genjutsu and gestured for her clones to hide before she dispels them.

"Takagi-keiji!"

Nearby, Takagi turned his head slightly to face Conan, "What is it, Conan-kun?"

Conan waved for him to kneel down to his height, whispering into his ear.

* * *

><p>"It has been concluded that Sumiko Fujioka-san had committed suicide," Megure announced.<p>

All of the possible suspects widened their eyes in surprise.

"But Keibu!" One of them shouted, "How can that be?"

Megure started a video, showing them what Conan and Hinata had watched earlier, "Fujioka was seen wandering with her bag slightly wet. We had suspected that the weapon that killed her could have been ice. Ice can be melt once it is used and it will not display any evidence of it existing. But with this video and the fact that a piece of Fujioka's collection of her structures have disappeared, we announce this case closed."

The rest of the Detective Boys met up with Conan and Hinata. Ayumi asked, "So how'd you guys find out?"

Conan raised an eyebrow, "What makes you think we were the ones that figured it out?"

"Because you're Conan! You must've helped solve the case."

"Well, I am pretty smart..." he chuckled to himself, feeling a bit smug. A palm slapped him on the head, "Ow!"

Haibara shaked her head, "Don't be so cocky, Edogawa-kun. I bet she," she waved her head to the side, where Hinata was standing, "Helped you. You couldn't even find out how to unlock the door to the surveillance room."

He sheepishly rubbed his head, "Well, I might've had a little help..."

"A-ano..." they heard Hinata mumble.

She blushed as they turned their attention to her, "Are we still going to order?"

"Oh yeah!" Genta shouted, scrambling up to where they previously sat an hour ago.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: So sorry again for the long delay and the very short chapter, I wanted to finish the case they're with :( I hope none of you decided to leave because I only update like once a month… I just couldn't think of what to write! Perhaps you, my lovely readers, could give me some suggestions? That would be very helpful! Also, I noticed some mistakes in my last chapter… Sorry for that, I think I edited that chapter when it was around 2 AM or so :P Anyways, thank you for reading!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Slight Hesitance**

**7**

**Disclaimer: I own neither Detective Conan nor Naruto**.

* * *

><p>Hinata flipped her quiz paper over, the noise of the paper making the other occupants of her classroom aware that she was already done with her quiz. A few moments later, two other papers were flipped over, papers of the other teenagers trapped in a child's body. She neatly placed her pencil to side, folding her dainty little hands together and examining the rest of her room out of boredom. The real children where sweating over the questions, unsure whether their answers were correct. Kobayashi-sensei sat on her chair, grading the class' homework that she had given yesterday. On closer look, Hinata could see that Sensei had a dazed and slightly blushing look on her face. It was the face that Hinata does when she thinks of Naruto, though a little bit redder.<p>

Speaking of Naruto, she wondered what he was doing, if he was well or not. She felt a little heat come to her face. If he was here, it would certainly make her happier in being in this world, just to have him by her side. She quickly banished that thought from her mind. How could she be so selfish? She berated herself. But still... _I miss him._

On the corner of her eye, she saw Kobayashi-sensei turning her head to look at the clock and rising from her chair, making a bit of noise and alerting the class to hand out their papers. The students scrambled to finish their quiz, scribbling their answers hastily on their papers, as Sensei stopped to the front of the classroom, and started collecting their quizzes one-by-one.

After Sensei had collected the pieces of paper, she let everyone leave, minus a few who had been selected to help clean the classroom.

She gathered her items, packing them away inside her bag, before slinging it on her shoulder, following the rest of the Detective Boys out of the room. Along with the Mouri's and Hakase, they have been able to make her relax and enjoy this vacation from the constant missions and training back home. But whil she did enjoy being with them, she feared that staying too long would make bonds with them. Now, she didn't want to sound like Sasuke, but she really didn't want any of them to be hurt when she goes back to her home in Konoha. She didn't want to give too much of herself to someone. Because once she leaves, a whole of her would be gone with her. She didn't want to cling on to hope too tightly, though. She was just as unsure as she is on how she'd get back, as she is unsure on why Naruto could stomach and digest over 30 bowls of ramen and still be in shape. Yet, she didn't want to lose hope either.

"Hinata-chan."

"Hmm...?" she turned her head to the side to find out the owner of the familiar voice, "Yes, C-Conan-kun?"

Conan answered, "You seem quiet. I mean, quieter than usual. Something bothering you?"

"No, not really..." she turned her head back to the front, "Just a little bit homesick, I guess..."

They were heading to the park. The real children of the Detective Boys insisted on going, saying that they'd like to play soccer. Hinata didn't mind, but Haibara decided to pass, saying that, "I've got homework to do." She didn't really know why Haibara would be worrying about the homework, since it was just some simple math questions, but she concluded that she'd rather stay home then in the park. While Conan seemed to have a knowing look on why. _Haibara-san is the creator of the drug, is she not? Maybe she's furthering her research for the antidote? I suppose it's not really my business, anyway..._

Conan and Hinata sat down on a nearby bench, while the the others went to play soccer. Hinata smiled as she watched them have fun.

"It's just," she sighed, "It's j-just not the same without them h-here..."

He laid a hand on her head, "Well, they do say that distance makes the heart grow fonder," he gave her a grin, mussing up her hair.

She playfully stuck her tongue out at him, before shaking her head and letting her hair fall back to place. Normally, she would never want to be seen with an act like sticking her tongue out, except for Shino and Kiba, she kinda felt comfortable with this guy. Or kid.

Silence.

.

.

.

"Do y-you like... cheese?" she flinched, mentally yelling at herself.

The Japan version of Sherlock Holmes gave her an incredulous stare, spluttering, "_What?_"

"Ch-cheese... It's a s-solid type of food prepared f-from the pressed c-curd of—"

"I know what it _is_. I'm just questioning as to why you asked me such a question."

She mentally facepalmed at what she said. Of course he knew what _cheese_ was. He's not _stupid_.

Poking her fingers together, she bowed her head, to prevent Conan from seeing her blush, "I d-don't know... To b-break the ice, perhaps?"

It went silent again for a few moments.

"I like Sakura cheese, I guess," he shrugged, "But any type of cheese is fine."

She smiled, "My f-favorite is Gouda... But a-any type is fine, t-too..."

He shook his head, chuckling.

* * *

><p>Upon learning that Hyuuga Hinata was missing, Hiashi immediately requested a search party for his daughter. Not without glaring daggers to the three who didn't do anything to prevent his Hinata from disappearing, first. Had he not known that they were friends of his daughter, and that he knew she would be incredibly sad, he would've had them killed as slowly and painfully possible. And it wasn't just Hiashi. Hinata's sister and cousin, Hanabi and Neji, wanted some hits as well.<p>

"I have taken a look on the scroll, hoping I could find some clue to where Hinata is, but I saw nothing out of the ordinary in the scroll, except for a bit of chakra that was left by whoever put that jutsu on the scroll," Tsunade said.

Naruto asked, "What's in the scroll, anyway?"

"Fine, fine. It's not really a secret. I only said that it was to prevent blonde idiots from reading it." The Hokage took the scroll, which was placed on the side of her desk, unrolling it. She let the others read the scroll, and told them, "It has no connection to Hinata's disappearance. It's my reply to the Kazekage regarding this year's Chunin Exam. It is going to be held in Suna."

"Then why would a bunch of missing-nin steal that scroll?" Shikamaru raised his eyebrow, "Don't tell me they only did it 'cause they're bored."

"Well, we could have the chakra examined. Who knows, maybe some light might be shed."

* * *

><p>She saw the way he looked at Ran. It was as if he longed to be with her, though he was already by her side. It was as if he could see nothing else, but her. It was as if he loved her... Like the look she would see Naruto giving Sakura. It hurts. She had only began to like the teenage detective, yet someone else already beat her. She suspected that she was already beaten <em>before<em>she had even began to like him.

Hesitantly, she called his name, "Conan-kun?" Oh good, she didn't stutter. She didn't stutter as much as she did when she was a genin, but she was surprisingly only stuttering only four or less stutters in this world. Must be because Naruto isn't here, she mused. That boy always turns her into a spluttering, tomato-faced, mess.

He snapped his face towards her, "Yes?"

"Would you m-mind if I a-ask you a question?"

He shook his head, "Not at all."

She licked her lip, contemplating on how she could ask this. She hoped she didn't seem too much of someone who just pries themselves into someone else's business. "Do you l-like Ran-san?" she whispered. Ran was in the kitchen, washing the dishes, but she didn't dare say it loud.

"... Am I that obvious?" he scratched his head nervously, a sheepish expression on his face.

"N-No, not really," she quickly shook her head, "I'm much m-more obvious than you a-are towards the o-object of my affection. I was just c-curious."

"Well, it's kinda personal..." he coughed.

She raised her eyebrow, her pupil-less eyes peering into his soul. Atleast that's what it felt like. She internally smiled in triumph. Her cousin had been teaching her this type of intimidation for a while now, and she finally got to test it out.

"You don't h-have to tell m-me if you don't want to, C-Conan-kun."

He stayed silent for a few seconds, before shrugging, "What the heck? You're my friend, anyway."

So she listened. About how Conan, in his previous childhood, had been friends with Ran ever since kindergarten. About how he has liked Ran ever since the first year of middle school. Hinata thought that Conan, "You can call me Shinichi when in private, you know," was pretty much in the same predicament as Hinata. Except for the part where he told her that Ran confessed to him, while he was in his child form, that Ran has liked him for sometime. He told her that he was turning so red, and that he was surprised Ran didn't notice his blush. In a way, Hinata was jealous at _both _of them. Jealous at Shinichi, because the one he likes, likes him back. Jealous at Ran, because Shinichi liked her.

"What about you?"

Hinata snapped back to the real world, "Huh?"

"Who is this 'object of affection' that you're talking about?"

She blushed, her fingers wringing themselves together, her gaze low. "He's... a friend of mine," she glanced at Conan to see him waiting for her to continue, "... At first it was j-just admiration. He s-saved me from a bunch of b-bullies. I w-was about 7, I th-think," she smiled, "Since th-then, I decided to try a-and do my best to become strong and never give up, just like wh-what he does. My admiration f-for him bloomed to a c-crush, then blossomed as l-love... He never n-notices me, though. And he l-likes someone else," she frowned, her eyes downcast.

"Hinata-chan, Conan-kun!" Ran's voice interrupted them, "Time to go to beeed~!"

Conan smiled at Hinata, who had her heart fluttering at him, "Goodnight."

Hinata nodded, shyly smiling back.

_Goodnight._


	8. DERP

**Author's Note:**

**Sorry guys, but I really can't continue this. I don't know what else to write. That's the reason I update only once a month or so. I'm really sorry. But on the other hand, if any of you guys are interested in adopting this story, I would be happy to hand over it to you. To tell you the truth, the only reason I wrote the story was because I think it would be cute for Hinata and Shinichi/Conan to be together. Buuuuut *shrugs***

**Just PM me if you'd like to adopt, kay? I'm sure any of you guys can do a lot better job than me. I mean, I keep you waiting for weeks and all you get is some short chapter.**

**Again, I am really sorry.**

**UPDATE 5/16/12:**

**Yo. I changed my mind. Sorry for confusing you guys ^^; I've decided to just leave this fic hanging until I find some inspiration to write. Kay? Kay!**

**~Meitantei-Carissa**


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